Tribal traditions challenge the authority of the state in Iraq

Ahmed feels remorse for having detained a car driver at a checkpoint for possession of a weapon without a permit, which led to the burden of what is known as the tribal separation and 
because of the threats to it and the reality of Iraq where the rule of law retreats before the power and influence of the tribes, decided to flee with his family from Baghdad and resort to the south of the country. 
Ahmed was performing his duty at a checkpoint in an area east of the capital when he found a gun in a car. 
He and his colleagues booked the driver, who was a merchant, but it was not long before a group of gunmen came and cleared him from arrest. 
"We were only able to keep the weapon," said the police officer at the checkpoint, preferring not to name his family or the area where he and his family live. 
Days after the accident, he received a threatening phone call.
"We know where you and your family live, and it's best to return the gun if you want to keep your family alive," he said. 
Ahmed collaborated with his colleagues to arrange a meeting with representatives of the tribe of the man who briefly detained him. He was presented with documents proving that the weapon was legally licensed, leaving only the option of rearming and closing the case. The prevailing tradition in Iraq is the solution of many of these cases by tribal mediators rather than the implementation of the rule of law. 
They decide compensation, financial or otherwise, that is negotiated and accepted by the conflicting parties.
Ali, another policeman who declined to give his family name, was forced to pay the amount (the tribal chapter) stipulated by tribal laws and traditions in full. He had to pay up to $ 10,000 and pay the police officer with him almost the same amount, all because they tried to apply the law. 
During a raid to close unauthorized street stalls, one of the stall owners assaulted him with a baton he carried. Three weeks later, a police request came from a clan to call those who took part in the raid to a tribal meeting. 
The request pointed out that in case of abstention, a group of young people will be sent to deal with officials. 
Heads refused to intervene, because they did not want to involve the Interior Ministry in tribal issues. During the meeting, he and his officer were shocked at the amount of compensation they had to pay.
"Whenever we try to arrest anyone who has an incident or is suspected, his clan intervenes, so if I see anyone who breaks the law, I do not interfere." 
"I do not want to be a victim of these stories or I have to face such problems," Ali said. 
"Tribal customs have a real impact on society," says Hussein Allawi, a professor of national security at the Nahrain University in Baghdad. "Iraq is a conservative Arab country where you and your family name have weight to find a job or partner in marriage or politics. State law took precedence over tribal customs even before the overthrow of dictator Saddam Hussein in a US-led invasion in 2003, but all that changed. 
"Over the past 10 years, no action has been taken" to reduce the "negative impact" of these customs, Allawi said.
With total impunity, "some people use the name of their clan to disrupt the work of the security forces." 
Allawi said the phenomenon also had a negative impact on the war-torn country's economy, with foreign investors worried about being involved in a country classed internationally as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. 
He said a unit had been formed in the Interior Ministry to have its duty to coordinate with strong tribes for the purpose of involving them in the process of enforcing law enforcement through cooperation with security forces. 
Earlier this month, government authorities organized a conference in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf, south of the capital, with tribal leaders. 
"There was a memorandum of cooperation between the clans and the ministries of interior and justice signed at this conference," said Abboud al-Issawi, head of the Parliamentary Committee on Tribal Affairs.
The representative of the Ministry of the Interior confirmed at the meeting under Iraqi law that the punishment of obstructing the work of those responsible for law and order is imprisonment for three years. 
But a police chief, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the meeting only produced "promises from some clans." 
"But we do not see any difference on the ground." 

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